There’s something about being nearly a year into living here that makes it feel like we’ve accomplished a fair amount of “evolution” over the last 357 days (not that I’m counting…). I guess it’s because living somewhere for a month isn’t really a lot of time for tweak-age, but twelve of those in a row – well, it’s enough time to get things going. Like living with a floor plan for 11 months (just to be suuuuure) and then knocking out a wall that we’ve wanted gone from day one:
It’s also enough time to make a few furniture and accessory changes as we transition from working with what we have (like random stuff carried over from our first house) and first-instinct choices to a few more thought-out decisions. Yup, these things apparently take time – at least in our experience (remember this post on that subject?). So here’s the story about a pretty sizeable three-fer tweak of epic rug, ottoman, and chair proportions.
We haven’t made any major furniture/accessory purchases since the just-moved-in phase when we got our sectional, our first rug, our bed, and our big dining room table. Then we went on a building/DIY kick for the next almost-year (making our $104 console table and our $124 wall-to-wall double desk and saving nearly 4K by laying our own stone patio and getting a ton of estimates to save 3K on our kitchen wall-opening). We’ve mostly just been picking up super inexpensive secondhand furnishings since moving in (like our $35 desk chairs, $25 dining chairs, and four secondhand kitchen cabinets for our in-progress remodel for under $100).
So after many months of building up the savings account and waiting for things that we loved to come along, it felt nice to actually buy them. And since we had some “store credit” towards Joss & Main from curating a sale with them as a side gig (more on that here), we loved that we could put that towards our living room tweaks, especially because it’s one of our most used rooms, so we’ll definitely notice and appreciate it. But now onto what we tweaked and why…
For the last almost-year we have loved our fluffy green shag rug (it was great for a wiggly crawling baby and a wobbly toddler – and was so thick and inviting that many an adult found themselves sitting/lying on the floor). But there are a few issues that have popped up as Clara has grown.
# 1. Let’s just say that finding milk dripped and goldfish or cheerios crushed into our plush rug was less than pleasing. Yes, we’re one of those casual families who doesn’t have a no-food-in-the-living-room rule (I mean, peanut butter & jelly or a bagel with cream cheese isn’t living-room approved, but dry crackers and a sippy cup of milk are). That’s just how we both grew up and we really appreciate the this-house-is-not-a-museum vibe, so we plan to keep it that way. And although vacuuming or a bit of scrubbing (for spilled milk) got ‘er done (and Burger was awesome about hunting down the occasional goldfish before we even knew it’d gone missing) the rug was still a bit higher maintenance than a lower pile one would be now that we have an energetic toddler.
#2. The size. In our first house both our living room and den rugs were just 5 x 8′ since the rooms there were so small. So although we knew that our new living room was much larger, somehow an 8 x 11’ rug sounded like it had to be big enough for our 25 foot long room. Well… try as we might to “adjust” to it, it always felt a little small (we’re definitely still learning how to decorate a larger space). Like our giant sectional was just baaaarely contained on the boundaries of the rug:
So when I saw this giant (10 x 14!) 100% wool rug for $599 (down from $798) on Joss & Main I got excited. And nervous. That’s not exactly peanuts around here. But it’s a huge rug – and rugs that size that we like are usually 1-2K (which made me fake ugly-cry on at least three occasions). It almost felt impossible to find something extra large, low pile, and our style that didn’t end in three zeros. So $599 started to sound pretty good. At least good enough to contemplate for a little while.
After mulling it over for a few hours, I decided to show John to see what he thought (we have a full agreement agreement, so we don’t buy anything that we don’t both love). That way if he nixed it I could just close the window and stop thinking about it. But when I went to show it to John, he had it up on his screen (he also gets Joss & Main alerts and had clicked on that rug and left it open on his computer to “talk to me about it” a little later). Crazy, huh? We were both secretly mulling over the same rug. It was meant to be. So we gritted our teeth and put in our order. I’m not going to say that we didn’t have sweaty palms, but we went for it.
Since we’d been temporarily using a too-small placeholder-ottoman that didn’t have storage which used to reside in our first bedroom as a side table, we also found ourselves pining after this big tufted leather storage ottoman. Again, it’s not exactly a cheap addition to the room. At all. But nearly fourteen cubic feet of additional hidden storage was a huge draw (it’s almost 3 x 3 x 1.5 with an easy-open hinged top). Of course we also appreciated that it’s a correctly-sized counterpart to our giant sectional (as opposed to looking like a too-small donut hole) and that it isn’t hard and pointy for little toddler heads (but can be used for serving food & drinks with the addition of a nice big tray). Yup, she’s versatile. And we never could have sprung for it at 900 beans, but at over $500 off… well…
And then somehow this $169 chair (down from$339) said “how you doin’?”…
…which was especially convenient since the parson’s chair that we purchased for $70 from Target about four years ago was looking a little rough due to tons of use which led to one side of the faux-leather cracking so it looked like this:
So we waited patiently at the door for everything to arrive, pausing only to eat, sleep, change the baby, work on the kitchen, and blog. When everything arrived pretty much at the same time, it was sorta like Christmas. Literally, it kind of was (we declared these items to be our Christmas gifts to each other for last year, this year, and next year). Psst- pardon the rug wiggles, we still need to get a rug pad. And as for the art swap, I meant to blog about that a while back. It’s actually extra burlap-ish fabric that I used instead of the colorful paper. I love that it has more texture and doesn’t compete with the bright pillows and accessories.
Spending that kind of money on a rug and ottoman was definitely not a drop in the bucket for cheap-os like us. Heck even $169 for a chair isn’t usually our MO (we’re no strangers to spending $20-35 on thrift store or craigslist chairs). But it did feel nice to add up the sale savings ($199 + $521 + $170 = a whopping $890!). And more importantly, since we’ve worked our buns off to DIY so many projects over the last 11 months it meant that we were able to save a pretty nice chunk of change, so our bank account was thankfully just fine with the living room spree (we don’t like to buy anything we can’t immediately pay off – more on that here).
Of course we’re hoping to reuse the old round ottoman and the old living room rug in other still-evolving spaces (you know we’re use-what-you-got fans) and we might even try slipcovering the faux-leather chair in some fun fabric for another spot as well. So we’ll have to keep you posted on those cha-cha-cha-changes too. Of course we still have about a million other working-with-what-we-have items going on, like the wrong sized rug in the office, a too-small TV and media cabinet in the living room (we hope to build a nice media center to balance out our chunky distressed console table) along with many completely-missing elements (like a large buffet/console table with art and a rug in the entryway off of the dining area and an entire playroom and sunroom that have yet to be tackled along with all of our bathrooms). But we’ll get there someday.
Knowing that our first house took us 4.5 years to complete is a great comfort to us, because it takes away the we-want-it-all-done-now pressure. These things take time. But we’re feeling really good with our one-year-in progress (see a lot of that here). How about you? Do you have a “magic number” of months or years after living somewhere when you finally start to feel more settled and “evolved” (after feeling around in the dark for a few months while you get your bearings)?
Psst- To anyone looking to purchase the rug, ottoman, or chair – Joss and Main has flash sales (only lasting a few days) so of course by the time we got this stuff in the mail and took pics they weren’t for sale anymore. But lots of their stuff can be found on wayfair.com (though it’s not usually as heavily discounted over there) or you can get on Joss & Main’s mailing list here (that’s an instant invite, so you don’t have to wait). Hope it helps!
Madeline Kronfeld says
I’m majorly in love with the living room updates! In the second pic with the new rug you can see that it goes past the door frame. Is that something you did on purpose or did the size of the rug make it extend that far?
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah, we just shifted it around to see how it looked best in the room. So we could have shoved it over more so it didn’t extend past that doorway, but since it’s an extra wide opening and less of a narrow path we didn’t mind it living there since it looked the most centered that way!
xo,
s
Raina@ Mamacita Spins The Globe says
This looks fabulous! I love the new rug! And I think upholstery tacks on chairs are divine!
Erin @ One Project at a Time says
Love the new rug! The first one was a fun pop of color, but this one is still a fun color with a little more polish. The whole room looks more complete! Nice work.
PS- Are the green and blue things on the desk the same green candle thing you took home from Home Goods awhile back? I was wondering what you were going to end up doing with that!
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, those ceramic lanterns are from HomeGoods. I had fun bringing in some more pops of color once the art got neutral-ified!
xo,
s
Beth C says
The room looks gorgeous! Especially love the chair.
Nadine says
I love it! Good job, it looks beautiful!
Krysta @ Domestic for Dummies says
I love love love love love it! I can’t believe you were doing all of these changes behind our backs. Looks so much better!
Katie says
I LOVE IT! It looks so much better than before! The rug completely changes the room.
Angelica says
Wow! What a difference that rug makes! Amazing!
Kim R says
I was just thinking to myself that you guys haven’t really shown anything in the living room since the console table. Love love love everything. Especially the ottoman – it’s perfectly proportioned for the space!
Katie @ Lovebird Productions says
Considering how much DIY you guys have done this year it is nice to splurge (and still save) on a few of your favorite things! Y’all deserve it! It looks wonderful too! :)
laura says
love it all! looks great :)
Elizabeth says
$herdog, the living room looks fantastic!!! : )
BTW, your welcome for calling you $herdog. JK! Haha!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, thanks Elizabeth! High five.
xo,
s
julie g. says
I would not have thought that room could look any better but it is WOW WOW WOW!!! Sometimes it is hard to bite the bullet on the pricier options, but I think the “hi-low” purchases generally pay-off and you all save so much on many other projects. Happy Housiversary!
Gina says
I have to be honest I really loved your living room in your old house more. That is until you made this upgrade! I was not a fan of the first green rug but understand it from a functional standpoint. But this new room….I love it!!! The ottoman makes it!!!! It looks so sophisticated now but still homey and comfey!!!
Melissa says
Looks fantastic!!! The rug and ottoman made all the difference.
Sarah says
This looks soooooo good! It’s also really helpful to see how much of a difference the size of the rug makes — great reference for bigger rooms with large couches! I also love that the rug and ottoman look like something that could’ve come out of your old house (on a smaller scale of course) but still looks new and updated with your couch and console table. I love to watch how a room can evolve and mature!
Colleen says
Oh that looks so nice you guys! Congrats!
Ellen says
I liked it before but I LOVE it now. Great changes!
Ready to hear about that above-the-couch art changes too.
YoungHouseLove says
Just added an update to the post about the art. It’s basically just burlap-ish fabric instead of colorful paper. We love the textured and subdued look since it doesn’t compete with the colorful pillows and accessories.
xo,
s
Mel says
Two words: Love it! It just looks so put together now (not that it wasn’t before, but now it just meshes).
If only I could find that storage ottoman in Canada for under $1000! Is it leather?
YoungHouseLove says
Yes! It’s tufted leather and it’s even hinged so it opens really easily (you don’t have to lift off the top and hold it awkwardly in the air thanks to the hinge). Oh man, we’re so in love. Hoping you find one out your way asap!
xo,
s
Amanda says
I love it! I love that its still fairly similar to your colour pallet that you had (helloooo green rug) but I love it moore! I need to find myself a chair similar to that for cheaper than you paid! (Heck I’d even add my own nail trimming) pronto. Its soo goregous!
HelloDoorSeven says
WOW!
I say it again… WOW! I have been reading your blog for ages now and to be honest, at the beginning I was not totally sure what you guys had in mind with the living room. Maybe because I loved so much your previous den that I could not accept such a drastic change. But now everything is so… perfect! I really love what you have done with your house so far! I am not sure which one I like the most, if your previous den or this living room… but both the room look amazing indeed! And well, for the prize you had to spend on these last items… everyone needs a treat now and then :) Well Done!
Question, what about the TV console?? Have you something in mind already??! Do you know what kind it will be? What color/material?
YoungHouseLove says
Yes we’d love to build something like the console table on the other side of the room for presence and balance! The TV and stand that we have right now are way too small, so we’re saving our pennies for an upgrade. Might be done in the same weathered wood tone as the console or painted white if it feels too heavy- not sure yet!
xo,
s
Sarah @ Redhead in Ruffled Flats says
THUD. Why do comments have to have words? I seriously think that rug is probably the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen, so I’m a little speechless right now. And the ottoman – the chair – gorgeous! They were just what the room needed. It’s still fun and colorful but it’s also sophisticated and refined. Just up my alley! I’d say the splurge was definitely worth it. The rug fits the room so well and it really fits your style. So jealous!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks you guys! You’re all being so sweet! We’re even more in love with our tweaked living room now that you guys seem to be loving it so much too. Yay.
xo,
s
Lindsey @ arkadian belle woods says
Holy smokes I’m in love! That rug is killer and the chair and the ottoman! I want I want! So gorgeous!
Amanda says
So funny! I purchased Sunpan storage ottomans and a Safavieh Amanda leather chair for my home office re-decoration a few months ago. (I lucked out and got the Sunpan ottomans on RueLaLa for about $100/piece and got the Safavieh chair for $200-ish on Overstock.)
I absolutely love those pieces and they get SO many compliments.
That said, I’ve noticed with that quite often it’s a good idea to google the item you’re considering purchasing, as it will often come up somewhere else costing less (even on flash sale sites). It also makes it so you can spend a little more time thinking about it if you need to mull it over.
YoungHouseLove says
Love that tip Amanda! Thanks so much!
xo,
s
E.Lefebvre says
To be completely honest, I wasn’t crazy about your new living room. I liked a lot of the things that you picked (the colors, pillows, couch, storage table, etc.), but I didn’t like it all together. The carpet, ottoman, and chair, however, completely changed my opinion. I absolutely LOVE that space now. It looks awesome! Thanks for being inspiring!
heather says
I saw a similar rug (maybe the same one?) and liked it so much. My husband, however, had a near heart attack when I told him I was trying to find a decent one with a budget of $200. I pretty much should have told him I was looking at a $10,000 couch. (which I am not).
YoungHouseLove says
Aw man, I know what you mean! Sofas and rugs can definitely be budget breakers! I wish someone like Target or Ikea would come out with more styles and 100% wool options!
xo,
s
Whitney Dupuis says
What an amazing transformation! You wouldn’t think so, but just the rug and ottoman sizes make the room feel so much more put together. It even makes it look larger. Good for you guys!!!
rachael says
Oh my goodness, that looks amazing! I remember when you first got the poofy green rug and lots of people commented that it looked like it needed to be pulled out farther or tucked under the couch more or whatever,(I liked it BTW) but I can totally see how this size just transforms the room. Its a great example of how a rug can really make or break a space. And the desk chair, I would die if that were mine, and I could sit on it while I checked your blog 1084 times a day…sigh.
Karri says
OOOOOH.
AHHHHH.
LOVING it. Absolutely. And since we have the same sectional (ie: the same “i cant find a big rug!” and “i have no coffee table!”), I am really really loving it.
Kate says
I love the new additions, especially the more subtle backing/matting in your picture frames over the couch – makes for a much more elegant and integrated look.
Emily says
I love all of your new stuff. I’m always surprised at how a few “tweaks” can really change how everything looks. In your case, everything looks so much more sophisticated. I might have doubted before that Karl could really look sophisticated, but he sure does.
I love that you and John both had your eye on the same rug and I love that all your screenshots look like they were taken within the hour the sales came online. Love at first sight, huh?
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- totally! It was meant to be!
xo,
s
JennyB says
I love the lovely pattern of the rug in contrast with the solid couch. It’s amazing how it really changes the look of the whole room, doesn’t it? The pillow patterns and the wall art pop more. It looks terrific!
Megan says
That’s why I put away my other rug too- tall pile, lots o’ cracker bits.
Loving the new one!
Christine says
Fantabulous beautiful buys!
But might I suggest orienting the rug the other way? So the couch area and TV area connect better? The current boundaries feel odd…
YoungHouseLove says
We moved the rug around a lot before landing on his final resting place! Since it’s a 25′ long room the rug looks better when it’s longways in the space so it can match the shape of the room – at least to us!
xo,
s
Kati L says
Too funny…I was seriously *just* wondering how the shaggy rug was doing after having it for a year. I have seriously lusted over it ever since you got it, but we’re a food-in-the-living-room family too, and I was always curious about how that would work for us! I love love love the new look though – it’s so posh, but still fun and comfortable!
As long as you’re talking about the living room, how has Karl held up for you after a year? We have a 6 year old Ektorp from Ikea and the cushions on it got really squished and saggy so quickly. I love the look of Karl, but have been skeptical of buying another couch from Ikea. Would love to hear how he’s been for you!
YoungHouseLove says
Karl is still comfy and looks great! He washes well (his slipcovers, that is) and we have no complaints!
xo,
s
Kati L says
Thanks! Good to know! :)
Marla says
Wow, looks so great! The rug really defines the room. Such a nice balance!
Aria Kilpatrick says
Love the changes! That rug sale got me, too. Yesterday, FedEx quietly delivered the new runner for our gallery-style utility room. I had a horrible time finding a rug for our living room (we needed a 9 x 12)… options are so limited in larger sizes. We ended up snagging one from a Black Friday sale. Congrats on the latest re-do! We also have a Karl in our living room. It’s the regular sofa in white leather. White worried me, but graham cracker smash wipes up pretty easily from leather. I agree on plushy rugs. So soft and beautiful, but best for rooms with more occasional use. We also learned this the hard way!
Stephanie says
LOVE the new stuff, especially that ottoman. Looks so great in that space, like it was made for your living room. Have to say that I love this rug choice so much better. The room instantly looks more high end, collected and pulled together. Congrats, guys, and enjoy your Christmas gifts!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Stephanie- and everyone else saying such sweet things! We’re beaming over here.
xo,
s
Candace says
I don’t comment often but I had to write something on this post…I love the new rug!! Honestly I was not a huge fan of the previous green rug, and I think this one completely changes the entire look of the room in an amazing way. It’s kid-friendly and at the same time waaaay sophisticated. The pattern is awesome too. Love!
megan e. says
I hate when you buy something and after awhile it no longer “works” like you thought it did. I’ve been known on a few occasions to keep the price tag on and live with decor for a few weeks to see. It’s weird having a mirror on the wall or rug in the hallway with stickers on them, but I sometimes find I was more excited to buy ‘something” than that actual piece, so I’m able to return it.
Sorry to hear that rug had to get switched out. I personally thought it looked fine, but when I saw the new rug, that one looks soo much better! I’m not so sure about the white leather ottoman. Love the shape, but the coloring is a bit off (maybe it’s the photos). And the softer gray chair is fab. It’s nice to see some splurge pieces, because it’s really not realistic to make a beautiful house solely out of Ikea finds.
Meg@Keeping up with the Jenks' says
I was so sad to hear that Kermit was leaving, but wow! It looks amazing and so upscale. I’m sure that it’s like a dream for you when you walk in there. When I got my first “expensive” rug, I felt like such a grown up!
Do you think that Kermit would work in your bedroom? Is it the right green?
congrats on the super posh purchases!
YoungHouseLove says
We’re not sure about Kermit in the bedroom since the curtains are a bit more gold (and we love the jute rug in there). He might end up in the playroom though- not sure yet!
xo,
s
Susan says
Can we have a close up of the photos on the wall, they look lovely
YoungHouseLove says
Sure, we’ll have to include some of those in a future post!
xo,
s
julia says
Are you planning to add more lighting to this room like recessed lights and a large overhead fixture? I love the updates.
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, we’d love to add some recessed lights and maybe even a dramatic hanging shade or pendant centered over the ottoman! Someday…
xo,
s
Eileen says
I have had my eyes open for a new ottoman for a while, and yours is quite the find! I love the big square tufted ones. All three are a great addition to the mix.
On a side note, I noticed that J&M has your Peacock Ikat fabric on a pillow for sale. I think it’s so funny that ever since you got that fabric, I’ll see it in different places and immediately recognize it.
YoungHouseLove says
Isn’t that funny? Love it!
xo,
s
Sarah H. says
The rug is beautiful! Love the changes!
Elisa @ The Self Life says
Wow — amazing what this rug did to your room! We just got new floors and are looking at rugs — talk about sticker shock! I’ll have to show the hubs what a huge difference a rug can make. Ya’ll should do a “how to” post for rugs — good sizes, shapes, etc for different spaces and places!
YoungHouseLove says
That would be fun! I wish we knew more about rugs, haha. Still learning what works and what doesn’t! I would definitely recommend taping off the size of the new rug that you’re considering on the floor to see if it works for you before ordering it! Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Kristen @ Popcorn on the Stove says
You just totally changed the look of the room – and I love it! Everything looks amazing! I was never too crazy about the plush rug (I loved the color and idea of how soft it was, but they trap a lot of hair and dust (among other things). The room looks way more sophisticated now but still comfortable.
Sushmita says
sherry,
where did you get the basket placed right next to the tv?
love the changes…somehow the patterned new rug seems to break up the scale beautifully in the room. the older rug did compete with the size of the sectional…great choice with the new one.
thanks!!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s $25 from Target. We have a million (ok, three) of them that we love to use for Clara’s toys.
xo,
s
Amanda @ Our Humble A{Bowe}d says
You know, I didn’t think the old rug was that small until seeing the new pictures. Whoa, what a difference. I like the new ottoman and chair, but the rug is my favorite change. Still enough color, but I like the pattern and the size is so much better.
Anna says
Ahh, I love the living room changes! The room actually looks bigger, airier and brighter with the new rug and ottoman! And I love the lighter green color of the new rug as well. Seems to me like it’s totally worth the splurge!